The following is the second of nine position reviews from the Bears' 2025 season.
The one-two punch of veteran D'Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai in the backfield led to the Bears finishing with the third best rushing attack in the NFL (2,456 yards).
In the new Ben Johnson-led offense, Swift experienced a career year, finishing with 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns on 223 carries while adding 299 receiving yards and one TD on 34 receptions. Monangai, the Bears' seventh-round selection last April, totaled 783 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 169 attempts and tallied 164 receiving yards on 18 receptions.
The pair combined to be the only running back tandem in the league to each rush for 750+ yards and was responsible for 102 of the Bears' first downs this season.
"[Swift] had a great year for us, and we're going to need more from him going forward," coach Ben Johnson said. "I'm not surprised whatsoever. I think I've been championing that cause every step of the way. I felt from the outside a need to or a desire to bring more into the running back room, and I felt like our guys were pretty darn strong. Both him and Monangai have turned into a pretty formidable unit there."
Johnson, who previously worked with Swift in Detroit, has spoken highly of the sixth-year back since assuming the head coaching role over a year ago. At the NFL Combine last February, Johnson called Swift "an explosive athlete" who "can help ignite an offense because he's got that playmaking ability."
Swift displayed those traits all season long, including in a season-best 125-yard performance against the Eagles on Black Friday, back-to-back 100-yard performances in Week 6 and 7 wins over the Commanders and Saints as well as a two-touchdown performance against the Browns Dec. 14 at Soldier Field.
The Philadelphia native routinely took checkdowns or pitches out of the backfield for big gain, most notably against the Commanders in the 25-24 win Oct. 13. Swift totaled 175 yards from scrimmage against Washington and gained at least 10 yards on seven plays, including a third-and-4 in the fourth quarter where he turned a quick pass from quarterback Caleb Williams into a 55-yard touchdown.
Swift also played an integral role in the Bears' 31-27 thrilling wild card playoff victory over the Packers at Soldier Field by registering 92 yards from scrimmage, including a 6-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter that brought the Bears within one score for the first time since the middle of the second quarter.
"This is the player I've always thought he could be and really has been in spurts over the course of his career," Johnson said. "He's just being very consistent. He's very deliberate with what he's doing … I think the fact that you see Kyle have a little bit of success, I think that helps the competition in that room as well. You just can't let your foot off the gas, but Swifty has always had this ability.
"I saw it firsthand when he was a rookie all the way until now. So none of it surprises me, not one iota."
When Swift wasn't on the field this season, Monangai made sure the rushing attack didn't experience a drop-off. As the 233rd pick in last year's draft, the Rutgers product exceeded expectations by totaling 947 scrimmage yards, the second most on the team behind Swift.
Despite where he was selected, the rookie's success felt inevitable to those inside Halas Hall based on his work ethic and willingness to be coached during the offseason program.
"When you come into the building like he does and have his approach every single day, and it doesn't matter whether it's in the meetings or in walkthroughs or practices, you know what you're going to get," Johnson said. "He is a very consistent player. He ran hard; he lowered his pads. I thought that he played some inspiring football for anybody that was watching it, whether you were on the field or on the sidelines. No one was surprised."
While Monangai saw limited action and production in the first five games of the season, he came alive in the Week 7 win over New Orleans, where he rushed for 81 yards on 13 carries and scored his first NFL touchdown. Two weeks later came his true breakout performance. With Swift out of the Nov. 2 game in Cincinnati due to an injury, Monangai proved his ability to take on the workload of a starting running back when he recorded 198 yards from scrimmage, including 176 yards on the ground, in a 47-42 win over the Bengals.
During the remainder of his rookie campaign, Monangai recorded one more 100-yard game, rushing for 130 yards and a TD against the Eagles, and with his burst on short-yardage carries as well as ability to physically overpower defenders, he routinely served as a strong complement to Swift.
At the conclusion of his rookie season, Monangai expressed pride in his ability to carve out a role for himself in the offense and is looking forward to building on that foundation in 2026.
"There are a lot of things I can improve on for sure," Monangai said. "I was just coming into this thing just trying to gain the trust of the organization, gain the trust of my teammates, make them feel like they made the right decision in bringing me here, and then trying to help us win games at the end of the day. We fell short at the end of the season. But personally, looking at it, like I said, I did some good things and there are definitely some things I can build off of."
Backup running backs included Travis Homer and Roschon Johnson, both of whom played primarily on special teams while battling injuries throughout the season, and third-year pro Brittian Brown, who spent most of the season on the practice squad. Brown was active for three games and recorded his first NFL carry and touchdown against the Bengals in Week 9, and recently signed a futures contract with the Bears.
